Stories

From a Brothel to a Bakery

December 17, 2014

Looking through our window this season, the bakery flurries with quick feet carrying pans upon pans of Sugar Cookies, each carefully decorated with various sprinkles and colorful sugars. There are layers of sweet snowmen, stockings, stars, and trees waiting to be bagged and distributed to girls in brothels as well as other locals throughout this city. The view of this ministry is similar to past years as we have annually done a massive distribution to bless the people here with goody bags filled with the Truth of the Gospel as well as Christmas treats. However, this year there is a distinct difference.

This year, there are two additional pairs of beautiful hands that are joining our team in blessing the city. LL and WW, the two girls that left their work in brothels last March, excitedly mix batches of Sugar Cookie dough, cut them into yuletide shapes, and watch the oven carefully as the cookies turn golden. Both girls express excitement about celebrating their first Christmas and are even more excited to go out into the city and present the Gospel to the people of their country. It is a beautiful privilege to watch as these girls become part of, not only our family, but also our team.

After Christmas, the year of 2014 will quickly come to a close, and we will be embarking on new adventures, new goals, and new challenges. Recently, we were talking about the past year and how deeply thankful we are for LL and WW. It is our deepest prayer, most fervent and begging prayer that all the women that we work with in this city would come to have an intimate relationship with Christ and that they would leave their lives of emptiness and experience a rich and full life. We hope to see the bakery filled with not two additional pairs of beautiful hands but 2,000. We hope to enjoy the Christmas season and celebrate the birth of Christ with many more. Transparently, it is heavy knowing that there are so many more girls that continue to dwell in darkness. We cling to the calling that God has laid before us: to pour out our entire lives into sharing. The other day, we said to one another, “even if LL and WW are the only girls that leave work in the brothel and come to a new life, it will all be worth it.” Those two girls are worth pouring our whole lives into.

In Matthew 26, Jesus is anointed with oil by a woman at Bethany. The woman takes an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she pours it on Jesus’ head. When the disciples see this, though, they gawk and are indignant saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” However, the woman is giving the most prized thing she has to the Lord, glorifying him. We find ourselves needing to pour our entirety into the lives of two girls. Some may gawk and wonder about this “waste,” but it is exactly what we are called to do, and God finds these two girls of high enough value for us to pour our whole lives into them as He sacrificed himself for them. He does not see them as a waste of time, money, or resources. Instead He sees them worthy and beautiful in the eyes of God, daughters of the King. Every soul is of precious value.

Thank you so much, supporters, for your prayers and contributions throughout the year of 2014. You all have been vital team members, and we are forever grateful for all that you do that enables us to continue to invest in the lives of the many exploited women of this city.